'Refinance your mortgage, take the money, and buy some stocks': An investment chief overseeing $7 billion says he's all-in on equities amid the mass coronavirus selloff - and shares 5 stocks he just bought

Reuters / Kai Pfaffenbach

• Ricky Sandler, CEO and chief investment officer at $7 billion Eminence Capital, is so confident in stocks that he says you should refinance your mortgage and scoop up shares.
• He notes dislocated markets, possible government stimulus coming down the pike, and drastic precautionary actions the US is taking in order to quell the coronavirus' effects as reasons for his bullishness.
• Sandler thinks the market could push to new all-time highs once the pandemic is behind us.
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"My message to your viewers is: Refinance your mortgage, and take the money and buy some stocks."

That's what Ricky Sandler, CEO and chief investment officer at $7 billion Eminence Capital, said on CNBC's The Halftime Report in the midst of a violent stock rout.

But Sandler's eye-popping message isn't without merit - and he comes to the table bearing a plethora of rationale for his bullishness.

"Every new headline, every new hysteria is making people more nervous - and it's actually very, very positive," he said in reference to the media coverage around the coronavirus. "It's all helping to contain the problem. We are acting in a way that nobody ever thought we would."

He continued: "Because of the dramatic actions that citizens have taken, that businesses have taken, that local governments have taken - everybody has taken this seriously - and the best defense to this virus is to be on guard."

To Sandler, the constant bombardment of warnings, precautionary guides, and information is working in favor of the economy. Although there will be temporary pain, the actions the US is taking as a whole is what's necessary for a fruitful economic future.

Beyond these measures, Sandler is quick to note how overblown he thinks this selloff has been.

"Let's talk about the economic risk to everything stopping for two to three months," he said.

Sandler notes that US GDP is about $20 trillion, or about $5 trillion per quarter. He says that Goldman Sachs revised their second-quarter GDP estimates down 5%, which would result in a $250 billion hit. But to be conservative, he doubles it to 10%.

Here's the result.

"One-time $500 billion GDP hit, and we've lost $10 trillion in market-cap," he said. "It is so far out of proportion I don't even want to talk about the numbers."

In addition to overblown conditions, Sandler says the possibility of swift and forceful government intervention is a real possibility that shouldn't be overlooked.

"This entire market would turn around in one second if the government came out and said: 'We're going to provide business interruption insurance to companies that lose money in the second quarter if they don't fire any workers,'" he said. "The truth is: A) I think the government should and will step in here to do something, B) It is not the end of the world, one quarter of big negative GDP."

Moreover, Sandler thinks the possibility of banks foreclosing on businesses and homes because of this black swan-esque event won't come to fruition. He says "people are much smarter than that."

That said, Sandler sees confidence coming back to the US economy in three month's time - and he even thinks markets could create new all-time highs once this is behind us.

"We will have pent up demand; We will have massive fiscal stimulus; We will have lower interest rates and lower oil - I would argue businesses and the markets could make new highs from that."

With all of that at the forefront of his attention, Sandler is busy picking up shares of beaten-down stocks.

Here's what he's buying: Marriot (MAR), Live Nation (LYV), US Foods (USFD), Bank of America (BAC), and JP Morgan (JPM).

"You can borrow money against your mortgage at 2.5%, 2.75% and buy stocks that yield 3-times that level today," he concluded.

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